CPD23 Thing 5 – Reflective Practice

How do I practice ‘reflective practice’? Reading this Thing reminded me very strongly of the principles of evidence-based library and information practice. Briefly, EBLIP (or Evidence-based Librarianship EBL) is “a means to improve the profession of librarianship by asking questions as well as finding, critically appraising, and incorporating research evidence from library science (and other disciplines) into daily practice. It also involves encouraging librarians to conduct high quality qualitative and quantitative research” (Crumley & Koufogiannakis, 2001). Carol Perryman has written a very interesting paper constrasting the differing approaches to EBP in various fields – her paper is available here. In this article, she mentions the SPICE framework (which was developed by Andrew Booth I think). The SPICE framework is: Setting / Perespective / Intervention / Comparison / Evaluation. This is based on the PICO format for asking clinical questions: Population or Patient / Intervention / Comparison / Outcome. In both these methods, Comparison is optional. SPICE and EBLP is used for decision-making, but the SPICE framework could be used for reflective practice as well. The only difference being is that you will apply it at the end rather than at the beginning. Carol Perryman also discusses issues as to why EBLP and research to support EBLP is not practised as much as it could be. Time and professional support are main culprits. This also applies to reflective practice. Do I practice ‘reflective practice’? I must do on an ad hoc basis but not as a ‘sit down and think’ deliberate exercise. I’ll try it at the end of the CPD23 program and reflect on what I’ve learnt.